Painter OSKAR KOKOSCHKA (1886–1980) was born in an ancient Danube town mentioned in the Nibelungenlied. Winding in and out of Europe’s intellectual centers (Paris, Prague, Vienna, London, Berlin) like an ambassador from a Heironymus Bosch painting, he threw everywhere the most demanding of artistic tantrums. Although he was regarded, then and now, as a pioneering master of German Expressionism, Kokoschka eschewed movements. His constant call was interpolated meaning: humility and violence, innocence and decadence, artistic mischief and aesthetic reverence. Canvas wasn’t enough: He smashed the Viennese chinoiserie and gossamer version of Art Nouveau with demented children’s books and poetry. In 1914, when Austro-Hungary declared war on Serbia, Kokoschka joined a cavalry regiment and was badly wounded in the Ukraine. After being wounded a second time, he became a pacifist and from 1917 onwards worked on an impressive anti-war portfolio. In the 1930s Kokoschka’s work — included in Munich’s 1937 Degenerate Art show — was banned. He was Hitler’s most hated artist.

About the Author

Jerrold Freitag lives and works in Berlin. He prefers being outside during inclement weather to being inside at all. Literature and Philosophy degrees from the Universities of Minnesota and Massachusetts. Advertising credentials a plus.